Latvian Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens and the board of Pasažieru vilciens (PV) will meet with the management of Czech Škoda Vagonka on Wednesday, the 3rd of January, in order to request explanations about the defects uncovered in the new electric trains Latvia has procured from this company.
Latvian officials plan to discuss with their Czech colleagues the steps the company plans to take to prevent future technical defects in the future, according to the minister’s entry on Twitter.
“Some problems are understandable, but a situation when passengers are forced to wait for a train a long time without any knowledge about a possible cancellation of their train is unacceptable,” said the minister.
As previously reported, multiple technical problems have been found in five new electric trains supplied to Latvia by Czech Škoda Vagonka.
PV representatives previously explained that the plan is to receive all 32 electric trains by mid-2024. Initially it was planned for Czech Škoda Vagonka to supply 23 trains by the end of 2023 and nine more in 2024.
Once all new trains have been received and they are deployed and put to use, the company plans to compose interval timetables. The plan is to deploy new trains in morning and evening hours, which is usually the time periods that see the most foot traffic.
The first cars for Czech electric trains were delivered to Riga in June 2022.
Each train consists of four train cars. The length of a single train is 109 m. Each train has 436 seats and enough room for 454 standing passengers. All trains have same-level boarding from adapted train platforms.
Pasažieru vilciens representatives previously said the company will request Škoda Vagonka to pay a fine for their failure to deliver trains on time. The maximum fine for failure to deliver each train within the agreed upon time is 10% of the train’s price.
The total costs of the project reach EUR 257.889 million.
PV turnover in nine months of 2023 was EUR 44.256 million, which is 19.2% more when compared to 2022. The company’s profits are down 21% to EUR 458 074.
PV was founded in 2001 as a result of domestic passenger transport services being separated from Latvian Railway’s main functions. Previously PV 100% belonged to Latvian Railway as its subsidiary, but in October 2008 it was reformed into a state company.
Also read: ViVi down again due to technical difficulties. Several trains cancelled
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Latvian minister to request explanations from Škoda Vagonka about defects found in new trains
